1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective shelter against fragment effect, fire from light/small arms and like external effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
In different conflict situations, it is imperative to protect own troops and equipment from the adversary's fire and other hostile activity in order to maintain the operational functionality of own troops. Such conflict situations include wars, peacekeeping operations, wide riots and similar occurrences that presumably may involve the use of light/small arms, bombs, other explosives or, simply, throwable objects alone. Particularly in war situations, modern warfare doctrines strongly emphasize fast deployment and speed of troops, whereby arduous long-term field fortifications are impossible. On the other hand, today's world appears to meet at an increasing rate such situations that require temporary or semitemporary shelter constructions. These needs are especially typical in peacekeeping operations and, sometimes, also in conjunction with international summits involving the risk of protest demonstrations turning violent.
Conventionally, troops are protected by the shelter offered by armored vehicles, rapid digging or other preparation of a shelter from locally available material. If efficient digging is not possible, shelter erection becomes both time-consuming and frequently necessitates haulage of construction materials to the erection site. During peace, digging or erection of heavy shelter constructions in an urban environment is generally entirely out of question. In Finnish utility model reg. no. U 1518 is disclosed a shelter assembly system comprised of polygonal or sector-shaped panels made from a metal or non-metal material and adapted connectable to each other. Along the edges of the panels, suitably spaced apart from each other, are fitted coupler bushings of noncircular cross section. When two elements are placed abutting edge-to-edge, the coupler bushings of the panels form a string of interleaved bushings. Thus, the panels can be connected to each other by means of a locking bar threaded through the string of coupler bushings. The panel may have a planar or curved surface and also the panel edges may be planar or profiled.
The above-described construction is hampered by its relatively heavy structure and the limited number of angles possible in the connection of the panels to each other. The cross-sectional shape of the coupler bushings and the locking bar constrain the allowable locking angles between the panels. Additionally, the spacing pitch of the coupler bushings on one edge of a given panel are dictated by the spacing pitch along the mating edge of the adjoining panel thus necessitating the use of a given set of panels in the connection of the panels to each other. As a result, shaped panels for instance cannot be used but in a single given construction or, alternatively, in another shelter but only with an exactly identical construction. Hence, the modifiability of a fortification erected according to this construction is limited and, hence, the panel system is optimally usable only for rapidly erecting a relatively long-term fortification at a terrestrial point taken over. Such locations are, e.g., guard and observation points and like. According to the teachings of the example of the invention, metallic materials are employed for strengthening the panel edges and as connecting members, whereby the weight of the panels becomes high. Obviously, the panel weights are also increased by their size.